Feral
by AjSpammin
Summary: Something in Grimmjow snapped at the feeling of an oh so familiar reiatsu fading when a Garganta to the Living World opened.


_Sharp teeth ran across the man's exposed neck lightly, a surprisingly gentle touch coming from the Sexta. A sigh fell passed Starrk's lips and he leaned back against his fellow Espada, a hand raising to tangle in blue locks as bare skin pressed against bare skin. A pleased growl was the response to this and Grimmjow's eyes opened, mouth moving away from his neck to claim his lips in a harsh kiss. Both men clung to the other, hands clenching one another close as they lost their ability to breathe, tongues moving in a passionate dance that wasn't common between them._

_Grimmjow pulled away first, a low growl rumbling up from his chest and he hit his forehead against Starrk's, blue hues narrowed dangerously._

_" If you die, I'm goin' to fuckin' kill you. " His voice was thick with that oh so familiar fury that always came from the Espada, but a hint of worry lay beneath the hostility._

_Word that they were going to be going to the Human World had reached the Sexta and he'd hunted down the Primera to confront him about it. An argument turned into angry sex turned into Grimmjow wrapping around the other, not allowing him to leave the bed._

_A deep sigh left Starrk and he leaned forward to steal another kiss, chuckling at the growl that left the other at the gentleness of it. _

_" You know I won't die. " His tired yet reassuring voice seemed to calm the tenseness of the Sexta's form and he let out an annoyed sigh, eyes rolling._

_" Better not, Asshole. "_

_x_

_x_

Something in Grimmjow snapped at the feeling of an oh so familiar reiatsu fading when a Garganta to the Living World opened.

Arrancar that survived the Shinigami entering Heuco Mundo were unable to calm the rage that flowed from the Sexta Espada. He hadn't even called his Zanpakuto's name when his true form was released, a dangerous tail lashing harshly behind him, claws sharp alongside the blades decorating his arms. Sapphire eyes were mad with rage, ears pressed back, and a feral sound was leaving the man as he moved quickly to find where the location of the man he'd told not to die may be.

He heard voices all around when he darted through the closing rift, Aizen's 'tsk' audible to his sensitive ears despite the distance between them, but he wasn't what mattered at that moment. What mattered was finding the Primera Espada before he was too late.

His eyes locked onto the limp form of Starrk laying where his body had fallen, blood staining the whites of his coats, and Grimmjow went completely feral.

He'd moved quickly to the Primera's form, his own body quickly moving to be that of shield from others. The growls that left the Espada didn't sound even remotely aware, the only thoughts in his mind being that to protect the man beneath him. Shinigami and Visored around him watched as the Espada's arms wrapped around the Primera and Shunsui's voice called out, starting to move towards the two when a Garganta opened directly next to the two Espada. Ukitake had to grab his friend's arm when the feral Espada spun around to face them, claws swiping out to send four bright, blue slashes in the direction of the men in a warning to stay away. The Sexta made a sound that was similar to that of a yowling feline, the fading of the man in his arm's reiatsu causing panic the course through his veins.

The sounds leaving the Espada were angry, harsh, scared .

Grimmjow pulled Starrk close and quickly darted through the rift, ignoring the voices and sound of battling behind him as he took the older Espada back to their home.

_x_

_x_

No one had been allowed to enter Starrk's room since everything had gone down, the presence of a still near-feral Espada lingering in the room scaring others away. The only one that'd been given the okay to enter the room had been Orihime after she was brought to help by Ulquiorra and even then, Grimmjow sat in the corner of the room, slitted eyes not moving away from her as she healed the near dead Primera. He could feel the anxiety and nervousness coming off the girl, but in the state of mind the Espada was in at that moment, he hadn't cared in the slightest.

She'd healed Starrk as much as she could, apologizing for not being able to do anything more for him and telling the Espada watching her that it was all up to him now and whether or not he wanted to live. This had gotten a hostile response from the man, but Ulquiorra was quick to take Orihime away at the spike of reiatsu from the room, leaving the mad Espada nothing to lash out at.

Instead, Grimmjow went to the bed the other laid on, laying on the ground next to it as if he was an actual animal. Days passed and he didn't move from that spot, ignoring voices outside the room and focusing solely on the reiatsu behind him.

When Starrk's reiatsu began to grow stronger, Grimmjow began to become more protective. He still refused to allow anyone to enter the room and would lash out at anyone who opened the door, viewing them as a threat to the man finally healing behind him. He began laying on the bed now, though he still laid near the foot of the bed, curled into a ball as he awaited for the Primera to wake up.

_x_

It'd been one of the times the Sexta Espada let himself sleep when Starrk finally came to. Grimmjow was asleep by his legs, head resting on one of them and causing it to be numb from that spot down. His entire body hurt despite the healing and he slowly pushed himself up, trying to refrain from making a sound and waking the Sexta sleeping by his feet. A long, sharp tail whipped back and forth, a low rumbling sound leaving the sleeping Espada and Starrk found himself reaching out to him. Slender fingers gently tangled into blue hair, running through the messy locks and sliding down to gently rub by an ear.

Blue eyes snapped open at the contact to his ear and he flung away from the bed, a low growl rumbling from him as he stood on all fours in the middle of the floor. Something about the stance made an odd feeling of pain echo through the Primera's chest. It was so familiar to how the savage hollows they used to eat acted, but there was an intelligence in those slitted eyes that darted around that they didn't have.

Once he was sure the room was safe, Grimmjow finally looked back to Starrk, only to freeze in his tracks when he saw the man sitting up in front of him. A tired hand lifted in a lazy wave, the Espada too tired to do much of a response aside from then. Neither moved for a long moment before Grimmjow slammed full force into Starrk, a pained groan leaving the man as he was pinned to the bed by the Espada above him.

" Starrk.. " Grimmjow's voice didn't sound right. It was gravely, broken as if he hadn't said actual words in a long time, and Starrk couldn't help but wonder if that assumption was true. A deep growl rang in sync with the word, making his name sound animalistic on his tongue. He hesitated for a moment before moving his arms around the other, something in him tightening when he felt how the Sexta's entire body was shaking, something he'd never felt him do.

He would have said something if it weren't for the growling that was leaving Grimmjow, tail lashing dangerous behind the man. He could tell he was aware to an extent since his was being careful to keep the blades on his arms away from Starrk, but aside from that, it seemed the man was moving on pure instinct. A concerned voice came from outside his door at the increase of reiatsu from the room and he felt the growling that increased from the man above him. As soon as the door opened even a crack, Grimmjow ripped himself away from the Primera only to slam his body into the door full force, loud growling and hissing ripping from the man's throat.

He acted like a wild animal and Starrk wasn't sure how to react to that.

He forced himself to a sitting position once more despite the pain of moving and swung his legs around the edge of the bed, the floor cold against his feet. He saw the blue haired male's eyes snap towards him and in moments he had the man directly in front of him. Grimmjow stayed on the floor, but pushed himself between his legs, head pressing into his stomach as he tried to keep Starrk from standing. Swallowing thickly, the older man caved and allowed himself to move his hands into soft blue locks, leaning down to curl around the form between his legs.

" Grimmjow, I'm okay. Look at me. " His own voice was slightly gravely from not speaking for a while, but he could hear the difference between his own voice and the man between his leg's voice.

Slitted eyes slowly raised to look at the Primera, tail lashing out behind him as the blue hues stared at him. Leaning closer, Starrk pressed his lips to the man's forehead, feeling him tense beneath his hands.

" I'm okay . "

There was a moment of silence before he finally got a response from the Sexta Espada.

Loud, mournful feline moaning echoed through the room as Grimmjow pressed closer to the older Espada, arms wrapping around his torso and holding him tight. Starrk wrapped his arms around his head and held him close as the Sexta cried out, face buried in his chest.

_x_

_x_

Starrk learned Grimmjow had been in his released form for over a month from Ulquiorra once he'd finally been able to leave his room. That was why the man moved in such an animalistic manner, he'd been in the exact same state for so long and his mind and body had adjusted to it during the time he was like it. None of the other Espada knew if the Sexta would be capable of returning to his original form, but Starrk had stated he would work with him and requested other Espada to stay out of it.

And so for weeks he worked with Grimmjow.

He'd decided to go for walking on his legs first. When he would leave his room, Grimmjow followed, so Starrk began grab the Sexta's hands when he would stand and pull him to his feet. Something about the stance seemed to make the man panic at first, try to press back to the ground, but the Primera would speak in a soft voice, encouraging the other and promising that it was okay.

It'd taken a while before Grimmjow began walking on his own, but when he did, Starrk had given him a gentle kiss that'd pulled a growl from the Espada at the softness of it. He found himself smiling at the similar reaction and took note of it, viewing it as proof that Grimmjow was still in there, still in the mind of the Espada before him.

He'd next started working on talking once Grimmjow began walking around on his own normally.

It'd been hard at first, the only word that the Sexta ever said being his name, but he knew that meant he would get better. If he could say one word, he could remember to say others. He began slow, encouraging Grimmjow to speak after him when he'd say things and as time passed, he finally began to cooperate. Weeks passed and he began saying things he hadn't heard Starrk say and the Primera had encouraged it with promises of holding him later on. The animal in Grimmjow seemed to like this because he'd began speaking more, though his voice still had an odd difference to it that didn't quite sound normal.

It was Grimmjow's voice, but it was more dangerous than usual, the sound of a growl being heard when he'd speak making the words break apart.

The next obstacle they needed to get over was his released state.

Starrk had said he wanted to do this on his own, but he was unsure what to do about his released state. He didn't know how to force one to go back to their prior state in any other way aside from hurting them and he had a feeling that if he attacked Grimmjow when he was like this, all of their previous work would become null because the man would view him as a traitor and go feral once more. If it had been any other time, he'd ask the other to spar, but he didn't want to risk fighting when he was still in the fragile state because he didn't know if the combat would revert what they'd fixed.

_x_

A month had passed and Grimmjow was still in his released form, but everyone was noticing one thing about him.

His reiatsu was getting weaker.

It wasn't as strong as it normally was, you couldn't feel it in your bones, and Starrk it realized that being in his released form was beginning to kill him.

The man was still animalistic in ways, but Starrk had thought they were getting better, that once he had pulled Grimmjow's mind back out to the forefront completely, he'd be able to return to his original form, but nothing he did seemed to be able to do so. He stayed the protective, aggressive animal he'd become when the Primera was injured.

He'd been speaking to Ulquiorra about it when he finally realized what was going on.

Grimmjow thought he needed to protect Starrk.

He'd seen the man almost die and it'd flipped a switch him in. He didn't think he needed to be Grimmjow anymore, he just thought he needed to be a protector of the other Espada.

Starrk tried talking to Grimmjow, telling him he didn't need to protect him, that he could protect himself, but this only seemed to push the Sexta away. He'd growled at him and began to stop talking to him, the progress they'd made immediately being locked away once more.

The Primera found himself unable to keep his cool anymore, frustration and anger building up on top of the worry that Grimmjow was going to die.

" _How the hell are you supposed to protect me if you're **dead** ?!_ " He hadn't meant to yell at the other, but he was ignoring him when he tried to speak to him and wasn't acknowledging his words. The sudden increase in reiatsu that follow the yell made the Sexta tense, ears pressing flat against the side of his head and tail moving quickly behind him. Slitted eyes stared at Starrk dangerously, a low growl leaving him, but it was weak. The intense reiatsu pressing down on his weakened form made the blue haired Espada lower slightly, as if it was pressing down on him, and it was only then that Starrk realized that it was .

Blue-grey eyes widened in horror and he quickly stepped back away from the other, repressing his reiatsu so that it wouldn't harm the man anymore. The decrease in reiatsu seemed to be good for the Sexta, his shoulders relaxing as a pained growl left him. Starrk didn't know what to do, he wasn't sure if the other would allow him close again after harming him like that. His hands twitched at his sides, wanting to reach out, when a familiar voice met his ears.

" Coulda fuckin' killed me there, Asshole. Yellin' about me almost dyin' and killin' me at the same time, a shitty move. " Blue hues raised from the ground as the man spoke, the growl to his voice faded, though still there from habit. Starrk felt his heart stop at the oh so familiar smirk that adorned Grimmjow's face and his throat tightened, words unable to come out.

The Sexta stood straight with a pained groan, a hand moving back to rub his back and sigh. His gaze darted down to his armored hand and he let out a quiet huff.

" Damned body is weak. " An annoyed huff left the blue haired man and he began to take a step forward when another body slammed into his own, a foot moving back to catch them just in time before they flew to the floor. A loud, startled cursed left Grimmjow at the feeling of arms around his torso, arms moved out to the sides so the sharp blades adorning them didn't stab into the man holding him. A familiar scent overwhelmed his senses and he looked at Starrk as the older Espada held him. No words were said, he simply held the other man, and Grimmjow couldn't help the sigh that left him, arms moving around him as well as his released form reverted. His body felt weak after being in that form for so long and he allowed himself to fall limp against the other man, ignoring the concern he could smell coming from him. His face pressed to his neck and sharp teeth ran across exposed skin, pulling a sigh from the Primera in his arms.

" I told you not to die, Asshole. " His voice was slightly muffled due to his mouth being against the Primera's neck, but it could still be heard and the older man let out a quiet chuckle. Starrk pulled back from the hug slightly, a hand moving to cup Grimmjow's face as the other held him up, and he felt immense joy at the sight familiar face staring at him instead of the once released form's.

" I didn't, did I? "

An annoyed huff was Grimmjow's response as he moved a hand to the back of the man's head, pulling him into a harsh kiss. Even as he growled out the word 'idiot' into the kiss, Starrk could feel the grin against his lips and felt himself grinning as well.

They were okay.


End file.
